Brighton Theatre Collective's inaugural production was TRUNKS by Stephen Plaice. Their second production is a specially commissioned adaptation of Charles Dickens' A CHRISTMAS CAROL.

Local writer, local actors, local story for a local audience - East or West, Brighton's Best!

Brighton Theatre Collective

Brighton Theatre Collective is a production house that aims to produce vibrant and relevant theatre for Brighton and Hove in an exciting new venue. Founded by Janette Eddisford and Daniel Finlay, BTC is flying in the face of the current theatre funding crisis and is determined to create a new model for funding and producing.

BTC is working in partnership with Barcelo Brighton Old Ship Hotel to produce a series of productions in 2008-2009. We have developed this creative partnership with The Old Ship - at 450 years, the oldest public building in Brighton and previously Brighton's Assembly Rooms - to create a new venue and performance space.

Artistic Directors Janette Eddisford and Daniel Finlay have almost 60 years of theatre experience between them - acting, directing, stage managing, writing, producing and teaching.

Brighton Theatre Collective is the realisation of their long cherished ambition to establish a resident, producing Theatre Company in Brighton and put our extraordinarily exciting and creative city on the theatre map. Their shared artistic vision has been developed through their work at the Academy of Creative Training - the only Drama School on the South Coast offering professional training for actors. With a 65% graduate employment rate and having attracted the services of some of the South's leading actors and directors, ACT's undoubted success has established Brighton as a key contender for students choosing a contemporary actor training. Janette and Daniel have achieved all this with no funding or subsidy of any kind and, moreover, whilst operating with a not-for-profit ethos so as to offer maximum accessibility to new talent.

Taking the similarly un-funded Globe Theatre as a source of inspiration, Brighton Theatre Collective aims to build upon and extend this reputation for excellence - creating a high quality repertoire using exciting and dynamic established local actors alongside newcomers to the profession, including the cream of ACT graduates.

Brighton Theatre Collective's inaugural production is TRUNKS by Stephen Plaice. The Company has attracted the services of outstanding local actors Sian Webber, Gary Sefton and Richard Hawley.

Trunks is a true story inspired by the "Brighton Trunk Murders" of 1934.

In 1934, a woman's torso is found in a trunk abandoned in Brighton Station's Left Luggage office. Door to door enquiries led to the discovery of a second woman stuffed in a trunk in a flat near the station. The murderer of the second woman, Violette, was Tony Mancini, who after being acquitted of Vi's murder went on to earn a living through a vaudeville act in which he sawed a lady in half and was billed as 'The Man Who Got Away With Murder". In 1976, he confessed his guilt to the News of the World - for a price.

Rumour has it that it was Graham Greene who may have been the murderer of the first woman, dubbed 'The Girl with the Pretty Feet'. Whether or not this is true, the Trunk murders were certainly a primary source of inspiration for his novel, Brighton Rock and Greene was a frequent visitor to Brighton throughout 1933-34. The same Brighton that BTC are evoking in the Paganini Ballroom during August - the town of the 'dirty weekend', the 'Queen of Slaughtering Places', genteel foxtrotting at afternoon tea dances, morphine addicted prostitutes, Pierrotters , knife gangs and the glamorous and heady world of Ballroom Dancing Competitions. With dance and music, Brighton Theatre Collective's ensemble are doing a lovely job of bringing Brighton itself onto the stage as another character in this Quixotic story.

The work undertaken by both the 20-strong cast and the production team at BTC, is inspiring, wonderful and definitely worthy of wider attention. If you are interested in the work of BTC please contact us so that we can enthuse you as much as we have been enthused by this positive and vibrant display of theatrical optimism amid so much credit crunchy gloom!